Social Networks, Support, and Psychosocial Functioning among American Indian Women in Treatment

Abstract

Hard copies of monographs and back issues (Volume 1, Issue 1 through Volume 8, Issue 3) are available for purchase. Prices and ordering information can be found at http://www.uchsc.edu/ai/ncaianmhr/pdf_files/Journal_Order_Form.pdf. This article describes the collective experience of a multidisciplinary network of researchers, practitioners, and program evaluators who support appropriate research and evaluation methods in working with Native peoples. Our experience underlines the critical importance of culture in understanding and conducting research with the diverse populations of American Indians and Alaska Natives, and documents the need for community-based, collaborative, participatory action research. We discuss the major findings of the first American Indian Research and Program Evaluation Methodology national symposium, and articulate a set of 20 guiding principles for conducting research and program evaluation.Keywords: American Indians and Alaska Natives, Community-based Participatory Research, Participatory Action Research, CultureThis article presents a call for systematic change in how research and program evaluation are conducted in Indian Country. 3 The authors do not intend to offer innovative research and evaluation methods; rather, we draw upon our collective experience, much of it based on working with individuals who have chronic illnesses and disabilities, to offer consolidated documentation for requiring that research and program evaluation in Indian Country be participatory. Further, we offer 20 guiding American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research Copyright: Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health Colorado School of Public Health/University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (www.ucdenver.edu/caianh) 2 VOLUME 12, NUMBER 1 principles, derived through the First Symposium of the Work Group on American Indian Research and Program Evaluation Methodology (AIRPEM), that we believe are basic to culturally respectful research and program evaluation. While the purposes of research and program evaluation activities often differ, the methods employed may be quite similar; for this reason, reference to research throughout this article can generally be assumed to apply to program evaluation as well.The special circumstances of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) affect research, program evaluation, and service delivery in Indian Country. In this regard, two fundamental considerations merit particular mention: tribal sovereignty and diversity. Tribal sovereignty means that AI/AN communities are sovereign political entities, each with its own form of governance, culture, and history. Second, AI/ANs are often mistakenly viewed as a single ethnic minority population (also referred to as the homogeneity assumption). In fact, over 560 Native nations and tribal entities exist in this country, constituting distinct cultural as well as political groups. In Alaska, for instance, there are at least four different cultural groups often referred to as Alaska Natives: Eskimos, Ale...

Sense of Belonging in the Urban School Environments of Aboriginal Youth

“…They found rates of youth suicide to be significantly lower, and in some cases non-existent, in communities that shared such markers of cultural continuity. Chong and Lopez (2005) assessed the relationship of social networks and social support to the psychosocial functioning (i.e., self-efficacy, self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and hostility) of 159 American Indian women undergoing residential substance abuse treatment. Their results indicated that social support and active participation by clients' families during treatment was significantly related to improved psychosocial functioning.…”

“…Their results indicated that social support and active participation by clients' families during treatment was significantly related to improved psychosocial functioning. Chong and Lopez (2005) concluded that interventions for substance abuse should aim to include family and friends in clients' treatment, and they also identified the need for further research to study other types of social networks (i.e., beyond family), and explore how different positive social networks can be developed to counteract the impact of negative social networks that represent the client's real world.…”

Adherence to tuberculosis care in Canadian Aboriginal populations Part 1: definition, measurement, responsibility, barriers

“…Studies have shown that self-perceived health and adherence to therapy for a variety of conditions are both greater when patients perceive that they have sufficient levels of practical and emotional support from family and friends (51,(72)(73)(74). In the context of Aboriginal communities, this may be achieved while respecting an individual's right to autonomy in decision making.…”

Relationships Among Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy, and Faith in People in Chinese Heroin Abusers

“…On one hand, as explained above, faith in people, which influences an individual's perception of and behavior towards others, also impacts that individual's interpersonal relationships and social support (Mortenson, 2009). In some studies it has been found that social support for drug abusers is significantly related to their self-esteem (Chong & Lopez, 2005). Consequently, having more faith in people leads to better interpersonal relationships and more social support, which, in turn, affects self-esteem.…”

“…This distrust may cause them to experience difficulty in establishing close and warm relationships with others and may result in them perceiving less social support. In some other studies it has been shown that perceiving a higher level of social support indicates that heroin abusers believe that they have people around them who can motivate and care for them, who have confidence in them, who show respect for them, and who have expectations of them, all of which cause them to have more self-esteem and self-efficacy than those who perceive that they have less social support (Chong & Lopez, 2005). Although the quality of faith in people has been found to be very important in heroin abusers, few researchers have, as far as we know, conducted research into this quality and its relationship with self-efficacy and self-esteem.…”